The hospital doctor discharges Mum, joking about all the tests she’s had. “It’s like a 10,000-mile service,” I say. “And she should be good for another 10,000 miles,” he says.

“Oh yippee,” says Mum, sarcastically.

But when she comes out, she is not at all “as good as new”. Away from the bustle she is deflated, quieter. “My get up and go has got up and gone,” she says. The interruption to habits, which kept her on track, has thrown her. Will she remember how to cope?

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/19/familyandrelationships8

‘Look at her,” says the nurse, putting her arm round me and escorting me to Mum’s bed. “All dressed up. Where are you off to, eh? Or is it one of the doctors you’re trying to impress?” It’s true Mum looks spruced up, if frail. Unlike others on the ward, she won’t stay in nightclothes. She’s fully dressed, a brooch at her neck, her earrings on and even some lipstick.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/05/familyandrelationships5